THOUSANDS SEEK FREE DENTAL CARE UNDER NEW SCHEME

Evening Star, Issue 26138, 27 June 1947, Page 4

THOUSANDS SEEK FREE DENTAL CARE UNDER NEW SCHEME

(Special.) WELLINGTON, June 27. “ New Zealand has frequently been criticised, especially by visitors from overseas, because of the large proportion of our people who have artificial teeth, the inference being that either our teeth are particularly bad and not worth saving, or else that our people do. not appreciate the value of sound natural teeth,” said the Minister of Health, Miss Mabel Howard, in referring to-day to the r&centlyinaugurated dental benefits system. “ Now, here is the Government offering a service in which the extraction of teeth and the provision of artificial ones has no place, and yet the public, or at least that section of the public that are eligible at this stage are applying in their thousands to take advantage of the facilities that are offered,’’ Miss Howard continued. Reviewing the progress of the system in four and a-half months since it came into opeiation on February 1* the -Minister said _ that. there was a reason for satisfaction in the way in which the new service was being received. Of 669 private dental practitioners in the Dominion, 489, or 73 per cent., had already undertaken to provide dental care in accordance with the Dental Benefits Regulations. The response from the public bad been even greater than was anticipated, some persons having already been enrolled and a further 3,000 applications at present’ being dealt with. Miss Howard said she thought the significance of the large enrolments was that New Zealanders had a much greater appreciation of the value of good dental health and its influence on general health than they were sometimes given credit for, and that the majority were anxious to keep their natural teeth sound and efficient. Difficulties confronting the School Dental Service at the present time were mentioned by the Minister. Many parents were concerned because their children were not receiving the regular six-monthly care that was aimed at. Numerically, the staff of the School Dental Service had .continued to show a slight increase over recent years, but oecause of the difficulty of recruiting during the war years the increase had fallen considerably short of what was planned, and had been insufficient ;to keep pace with the rapidly-expanding commitments. Consequently, many school dental clinics were now understaffed, and work was unfortunately in arrears. MORE NURSES TRAINING, With some 200 student'dental nurses now in training—the highest number yet achieved—the position in the school dental clinics all over the Dominion would bo greatly relieved by next year. It would probably be at least two years before the 'dental care of the -200,000 school children would be completely restored to its six-monthly basis. -While the shortage of dental nurses continued, ut might be necessary to enrol a proportion of the older children with private practioners in the meantime. As more dental nurses became available the whole of the primary and intermediate school population would again revert to their care, Miss Howard concluded.